Technical Study of Some Major Parameters Influencing the Performances of an Aerosol Delivery Equipment Suitable for Calves

Aerosol delivery equipment, suitable for the treatment of bovine respiratory dysfunctions and including 2 parallelly positioned jet nebulizers, was studied in depth in order to determine the optimal working conditions in the field. Indeed, some factors might reasonably alter the performance of this equipment. Among these factors, the influences of the parallel position of jet nebulizers (in order to accommodate the breathing requirements of the cattle and achieve a rapid treatment), of the long feed pipe delivering compressed air (in order to keep the animal away from the compressor unit), and finally of the ambient temperature were studied, this equipment being essentially used during the winter season. This equipment could accommodate the breathing needs of cattle weighing up to 225 kg if a pressure of 600 kPa was developed upstream to the nebulizers. The rate of atomization was significantly reduced when working at ambient air temperatures (272.25 K < T < 274.65 K) close to those encountered in winter. This was especially true when pressure upstream to the nebulizers did not exceed 500 kPa. The immersion of the feed pipe for compressed air in hot water led to an increase in the rate of atomization without raising evaporative water losses, and reduced the drop in temperature in the nebulizer solution. Finally, the rate of atomization significantly increased when the face mask including the nebulizers was maintained so that the nebulizers were in a vertical position or at an angle not less than 60 degrees with respect to the ground

Laser-patterned boron-doped diamond electrodes with precise control of sp2/sp3 carbon lateral distribution

A thorough study on sp3 to sp2 carbon conversion in undoped and boron-doped diamond (BDD) thin ( 500 nm) layers leading to the desired sp2/sp3 carbon ratio and lateral distribution, which utilizes boron atom incorporation and infrared (IR) material laser processing has been performed. Polycrystalline as-grown (AG) or chem-mechanically polished (CMP) undoped diamond/BDD layers were investigated with respect to boron content and laser wavelength (800, 1030 nm). Boron incorporation leads to an increase in IR optical absorption and reduction of required energy fluence ( th 1 J cm−2) needed for sp3 to sp2 carbon conversion. Raman spectroscopy was performed to identify carbon conversion stages and to tailor the ideal parameters for other IR laser sources and required sp2/sp3 carbon ratio. Electrochemical parameters ( p and Ap/ Cp ratio) were obtained from cyclic voltammetry measurements of outer-([Ru(NH3)6]3＋/2＋) and inner-([Fe(CN)6]3−/4−) sphere redox markers. Values of p and Ap/ Cp are mainly influenced after conversion of 10% of sp3 to sp2 carbon. This trend is most pronounced for the [Fe(CN)6]3−/4− redox marker, by decrease or increase of these parameters on AG or CMP BDD electrodes respectively. Electrochemical findings were supported by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy where ct keeps the same trend as p values and double layer capacitance profoundly increases between 10 and 25% of surface conversion